Salt marsh acres in port deal were unlikely to be developed

Supporters of a Savannah River dredging permit have pointed to Georgia’s promise to protect an extra 1,700 acres of salt marsh in Jasper County as a notable win for South Carolina, but the true value of the concession may be overestimated.

Mike McShane, former board chairman of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and a member of the Savannah River Maritime Commission, raised questions about the land during the commission’s meeting in Charleston last Friday.

“A perspective is, are we really talking protection versus true (damage) mitigation of something that may not be threatened to begin with, because you’re limited on what you could do anyway?”

S.C. Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-41st District, also expressed concern.

“This 1,600-1,700 acres that’s going to be preserved, that already exists? Is that what I’m hearing? So what are we getting?” he said. “I didn’t know you could use saltwater marsh without permits.”

The Nov. 10 agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control says the Georgia Department of Transportation will either preserve or transfer the salt marsh to South Carolina. That, along with a guarantee by Georgia to fill in any federal funding gaps to operate an oxygenation system on the river for the next 50 years, convinced DHEC to reverse its Sept. 30 decision to deny the corps its dredging permit.

Georgia Department of Transportation press secretary David Spear said it would take “major work” to develop any part of the 1,690 acres contained in the Nov. 10 settlement.

“However, as it is currently salt marsh, the permitting costs, including mitigation, for development would be extremely high,” he said. The acreage in question is also under easement with the corps, which typically means the easement would have to be removed before it could be used.

On Friday corps spokesman Billy Birdwell said officials are evaluating what tracts could be released without interfering with the Savannah harbor’s long-term disposal needs for dredged material.

The state of Georgia has been trying to deepen about 35 miles of the Savannah River from 42 feet to 48 feet in order to allow larger ships to enter the harbor after the Panama Canal is expanded in 2014. Supporters of the controversial permit frequently remind critics that the corps would have proceeded with the $600 million deepening project with or without South Carolina’s cooperation.

Is the additional acreage enough to offer any level of comfort to environmentalists, who have said the project promises to severely damage the environment?

“I honestly cannot answer that question, because we don’t have the details on the 1,690,” said Bob Perry, head of the office of environmental programs for the S.C. DNR.

“We’re just sitting back. And if one of the agencies asks us for an evaluation, we’ll provide it.”

Gov. Nikki Haley, who supports DHEC’s decision to grant the dredging permit, has characterized the 1,690-acreage concession and Georgia’s 50-year funding guarantee as victories for South Carolina.

In bitter contrast, the Savannah River Maritime Commission and environmental groups have lodged legal challenges to DHEC’s decision and said the deepening project would harm South Carolina’s environmental and economic competitiveness and preclude the completion of a the future bi-state Jasper Ocean Terminal.

The two parcels included in the settlement were purchased by the Georgia Department of Transportation in 1984 and make up part of Georgia’s 9,219 acres of property along the Savannah River in Jasper County. The state of Georgia had paid $900 per acre for the 1,690 acres in South Carolina, portions of which are under a corps easement.

One parcel is adjacent to Tybee National Wildlife Refuge on the north side of Jones/Oysterbed Island, while the other is located across from the Nature Conservancy’s Red Bluff Marsh Preserve.